Another Year

A married couple who have managed to remain blissfully happy into their autumn years are surrounded over the course of the four seasons of one average year by friends, colleagues, and family who all seem to suffer some degree of unhappiness.

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On a related point, I'd recently watched 'The Bequiled', the Eastwood version, not the remake. In the extras for that, Mr. Eastwood makes the point that it was promoted as a typical Eastwood film which resulted in audience rejection for the most part. This film is so well shot that some might take it for escapist fare. It is another go from Mike Leigh on the life of real people. If that's your cup of tea, pounce.

This movie is marvellous. It is for those people who read books and see movies that stir the soul, and like psychology. The acting is outstanding, especially Lesley Manville. At 2 hrs long you have to settle down! Written by Mike Leigh. A lovely respite from all the garbage out there.

If you are a fan of Mike Leigh, as I am, then you’re in for a treat as this deceptively simple urban story once again showcases his ability to wring rich and complex performances out of the most ordinary host of characters. Tom and Gerri (haha!) are a lovingly sedate middle class couple living in a comfortable London borough. Having led an exciting life, she’s a counsellor he’s a geologist, they now spend most of their off-hours gardening and entertaining family and friends, amongst them Mary, the flighty secretary who works in the same office as Gerri, and Joe, their thirty-year-old son who seems to be taking his time finding a girlfriend. Filled with kitchen sink drama and everyday humour that never strays far from a breakfast table or garden bench, Another Year uses the four seasons as a guide to trace the ever-shifting dynamics between this small core of characters. Although Gerri and Tom’s relationship is the anchor around which everyone else orbits and against which all are compared, the true heart of the film is Mary. Desperately lonely and constantly bewildered to find her youthful days behind her, Mary is a study in missed opportunities and self-sabotage. If we are the sum total of all our decisions then for some the final tally falls painfully short of what was once hoped for; a fact that Leigh uses to bookend this amazing film. Never judging his characters, yet never excusing them either, he offers up a small slice of life with all its harsh truths and gentle smiles intact. Not to be missed.

A well acted dirge but a dirge nevertheless. Not only do they remind you of how life is ticking away fast you may feel like you have utterly wasted some of it on this.

voisjoe1
Mar 30, 2013

Mike Leigh, director of this film, has numerous Oscar nominations and has won the Cannes Palme d’Or (for Secrets and Lies). According to the literature, Leigh brings in veteran actors who can improvise and gives them a general premise and works individually with each actor in developing a character for the film. Then he and actors flesh out the story, the characters, the relationships among them, and a plot line. When they have developed the ideas sufficiently, Leigh starts filming and voila! We have movie. “Another year” deals with various characters that are past their middle-age years and are moving into the later years of their lives and are extremely unhappy with their situations. We in the audience view the characters as real and three dimensional and we are hopeful that they can shake their anxieties and form happier lives.

Bierlingen
Oct 12, 2012

This film is definitely for those who are keen observers of human nature. It is about a grounded and loving couple, well played by Ruth Sheen and Jim Broadbent, who try their best to be supportive to family and friends in their life. Who hasn't invited someone to a dinner party only to wind up listening to a drunk saddo for the rest of the evening?

Another Year reminded me much of Secrets and Lies (with Brenda Blethyn), only not as emotionally turbulent.

My, yes it may have been realistic, but if one wants to sit and watch something dry and most boring for two hours, then you'll like this. I usually like British movies because people are real people are able to look like the general population but really I do want to be entertained, whether with laughter, tears,maybe thought provoking. This was absolutely drearing.

Summary

A married couple who have managed to remain blissfully happy into their autumn years are surrounded over the course of the four seasons of one average year by friends, colleagues, and family who all seem to suffer some degree of unhapiness. Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight, Oliver Maltman, David Bradley, Karina Fernandez, Martin Savage, Michele Austin, Phil Davis, Stuart McQuarrie, Imelda Stunton. Originally produced as a feature film in 2010 .Statement of Responsibility: a Sony Pictures Classics release ; Focus Features International, UK Film Council & Film4 present